Cowboy Caviar

...also alled Texas Caviar, also called Poor Man's Caviar. This is my version of the recipe...we've just been calling it bean dip around here. Call it what you wish, this stuff is good!



Here's what you need:
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cans Rotel( I use one mild, one chili-lime)
1/2 to 3/4 cup Italian-style salad dressing
1/2 to 1 tbs minced garlic
juice from 1/2 lime or lime juice to taste
chili powder, salt, pepper to taste



Here's what you do:
Mix it all together in a big bowl and let it sit overnight for the flavors to combine. We like it best w/Tostitos Jalapeño Scoops or homemade tortilla chips.

For the homemade chips, just slice a few corn tortillas into your preferred chip shape, sprinkle w/chili powder and salt or Lawry's. I usually spray my cookie sheet w/olive oil spray and bake @ 400 for 10min. or so, untill crunchy.

I've made it twice now and I think the lime juice makes all the difference...second batch didn't have any and it wasn't quite as good. I also think it's better when at room temp rather than right out of the fridge.

There's lots of room to play w/this recipe, fresh tomatoes & chilis vs. the Rotel, addition of red, yellow peppers, more Italian dressing, etc. Would love to hear how it turns out if you try it!

Enjoy!

The Toy Society

I happened upon Odd Dotty Dollymaker earlier today and read a post about a Christmas project the blog author was involved in. I was immediately smitten by the idea of The Toy Society. And Odd Dotty's dolls are beautiful, by the way.

The Toy Society began as a street art project by a toy artist and blogger in Melbourne Australia. In the words of the originator:

It came about from a love of "street art" but a recognition of my lack of artistic skills. I really wanted to contribute something to the street scape. I'd watched a friend put his work up about the place and got such a buzz walking past random walls in the city and seeing his work. I thought maybe I could sew something instead. And so The Toy Society was born.

I planned to leave toys around the streets to brighten up the place and give people something interesting to look at. And then I imagined what they might look like if they were still sitting on a light pole 5 weeks after they were put up...all faded and manky and rotten. So I thought I should invite people to take them home, share the love and all that.

What a way to spread joy & happiness around the world! And yes, the project has spread from Melbourne and toys are finding homes and spreading love all around the globe.

All it took was me reading this letter from a woman who found one of the toys to know that I wanted to be involved.

I wish I had been aware of this project before the Christmas Drop, but I'm still so eager to get started on a toy! I have only made three toys(successfully) since I started sewing. These, this one and this one, so this will be a challenge for me, but I am SO ready for it!

Want to know more? You should head on over to The Toy Society. Be prepared for a big dose of happiness while you're there!

He's a good Santa...

Mark got me this for Christmas and I'm so proud of it, I must show it off. We actually got it a couple weeks before Christmas due to a mishap w/my original wedding ring. But still.He's a good Santa, that husband of mine.

I have some more fun Christmas goodies to share and *gasp* a completed project or two and a recipe, so y'all come back!

What did Santa bring you?

Flashback Friday...How Did This Happen?

I think I must have listened to the Rebel Yell album 38,522 times in high school. I don't know what exactly it was/is that made it so appealing to me. I wasn't really into any other hard rock type of music in the 80's. But Billy Idol, I dug. I had a big Billy Idol poster over my bed, watched all the videos, knew all of his songs and whenever I was mad or upset Rebel Yell was my go to cassette tape for blasting on the boom box. So yeah, I considered myself a fan(and still do).

This is the way I prefer to think of Billy Idol.




Or like this...from the album Whiplash Smile.



Imagine my dismay when my brother recently made me aware of this. I'm afraid no amount of watching Billy's 80's videos will get this image out of my head. I hope it was his intention to do a cheesy, tongue-in-cheek kinda thing w/this. Please let that be it.

Vintage Thingies Thursday-Christmas Cards

I posted a few pics of my recently aquired vintage Christmas Cards a few days ago, so some of these photos might look familiar to a few of you.

Still, I did hold back a few for Vintage Thingies Thursdays. ...and might I add I was glad to learn that it is still alive and well thanks to ColoradoLady!

I mentioned in that earlier post that my husband bought some vintage Christmas cards at the Goodwill store a while back. Thus beginning my Holiday obsession. Here's what he brought home:

These, I think, were meant for children. The inside sentiments are childlike in nature. Very Sweet! These three were in the box w/the ones above. Definitely later. They remind me of a birthday card I once received. There were three matching turquoise envelopes in the box w/them. I wish there would have been more than just three...A while later we were at the Famous 4H Flea Market when I scored another stack, some of which are pictured here. Many of these had glitter on the front and/or some type of illustration included on the inside.THEN I had the bright idea to buy up more. I decided I wanted to send vintage cards for Christmas this year but the ones I had collected thus far did not have envelopes. SO I went on ebay and paid a highly inflated price for cards that started out life at $.49. And no, I didn't think of making my own envelopes until after I bought these. But they were so worth it.

As you might imagine, once they arrived and I sat down to look at everything, I suddenly realized I didn't want to give them away! I mean, look at them! They're fabulous!But after much thought I decided I was being silly since I bought them with the intention of sending to my friends and family. Doggone it, that's what I was going to do with them! Some people that receive them may not "get" how special they are, but it gave me great joy mailing them!

Thanks for stopping by and remember, there's more vintage thingies fun to be had over at Coloradolady's place!

You know you want some super absorbent house slippers with non-slip soles!

Two posts in one day...have I lost my mind? Perhaps. But folks, I knew I had to post this. I saw it on my friend Fiona's blog and nearly had a heart attack from laughing! And well, I felt the need to induce a heart attack or two myself.

Y'all know that I like to make handmade gifts, right? I think I've found the perfect gift idea for next Christmas.

There are actual direction for how to make these. You can find them here.

I'm a Barbie Girl.

We did an adopt-a-child for Christmas at school...our Family Resource Center Coordinator got a list together of children who would otherwise miss out on Christmas gifts. We were to buy two toys and two outfits. I had a ball shopping for little size 6 girlie clothes, let me tell ya.

And then came the toys...

As a little girl, I loved Barbies. The extent to which you can't imagine. In fact, I was probably in 7th grade before I truly stopped playing with my Barbies. Times were simpler then and we didn't have a lot of technology to entertain us nor all the crap that kids have to deal with today to distract us from staying kids...that's my excuse, anyway.

Needless to say I was really excited to get a a little girl who, along w/Polly Pockets and Bratz, had Barbie on her wish list.

So I head to WalMart to check out the toys. Mind you I haven't shopped for girl toys since my sister was little. Bratz dolls...ick and hideous...even the smaller ones were gawd-awful. But I bought one...after all this wasn't my Christmas list!

Polly Pockets...CUTE cute cute! I couldn't resist buying a set. I don't know if they were around when I was a kid, but I imagined I would have liked those too.

On to Barbies...I was so excited to shop for the perfect Barbie. And then I picked one up. What happened to her? First of all, her head looked enormous to me(not as big as a Bratz, thankfully), and her face just didn't look right. The eyes, the mouth, the make-up, even the hair, it was all wrong. I couldn't buy one. And who designs the clothes for Barbie these days? Hookers R' Us? I walked out of WalMart Barbie-less!

This is an example of a Barbie of my youth...the sweet, normal headed, fluffy haired, toothy grin, lovely Barbie wearing a lovely, modest dress. I guess I was expecting to see this version or something at least near this version of a Barbie. She's Superstar Barbie from 1977 in case you're wondering(she was a favorite and I had the giant size one too). So jump to the weekend when I went shopping again and was determined to get a Barbie for this little girl. Driving for 40min, I had time to think...about Barbie.

What it all boiled down to is that Barbie didn't look like MY Barbies or even the Barbies my sister played with 14 years later. And it's been the mid 90's since I've shopped for a Barbie, so it bugged me to see Barbie looking all 2008. Still, I realized, the Barbies I'd bought for my sis in the late 80's & 90's were a far cry from my 70's Barbies. Of course MY Barbies were a far cry from the Barbies 20 years before me...those Barbies of the 50's & 60's with their weird fuzzy hair and slanty eyes and clothes that would have looked strange to a nine year old in the 70's. Of course when I got older I appreciated the old style of Barbie. I even have several 50's & 60's repros and I adore them, but as a little girl I would have thought "ugly, ugly, ugly".

Barbie, I realized is a gal who changes with the times. She is truly the "It" girl of every decade. And who am I to scoff at her for being able to change with the times? This, I suppose, is what makes Barbie so timeless and so popular.

And the SuperStar Barbie, pictured above...she was a re-do in her heyday. A change from the "old" Barbie of someone else's youth. SO I went into Toy's R Us and spent a good 30 min. in the Barbie aisle. I enjoyed shopping for Barbie this time around and found a fun set that included lots of little outfits. Cause the most fun thing about Barbie is brushing her hair and changing her clothes(even if they are trampy)! I saw Barbie in a whole new light. Actually an old light...the same light I saw her in 30 some odd years ago. She's a girl of the moment and yet she is timeless. And she can do anything she wants to do...drive a pink convertible, live in a town house, have pink hair and wear the latest fashions, be an astronaut, a "TV Chef", a ballerina, or even a teacher. I fell in love all over again.

And Santa...if you are reading this, Superstar Barbie is now a repro and available for purchase. I've been really really good this year and so if you could bring her to me this Christmas, that'd be great!

Dilemma

I went a little crazy this year and spent more money than I should have on Christmas Cards. Vintage 50's Christmas cards, to be specific.

It' Mark's fault. He brought some home from Goodwill. I fell instanly in love w/them. Then I snagged a stack(minus envelopes) at a flea market. Ever obsessive, I bought a set still in the package on Ebay(with envelopes!).

They are darlin'! I realized today that Vintage Thingies Thursday is alive and well, so I'll save most photos of them for next week. But I'll give you a peek at a few of them...I love them. The sentiments are not too gushy and not too snarky, but just perfect! And the fonts are gorgeous. OK, reading that last sentence, I realize that only a true geek would gush over a font. Sheesh. But am I wrong?Here is my dilemma. I don't think I can bear to mail them! Is that insane or what? They're just so wonderful and such a fun piece of the past that I don't know that I want to part with them, but I certainly don't need more stuff junking up my house. But what if I mail them to someone who *gasp* throws it away after Christmas? I can't stand the thought.

Crazy, I know. Certifiable even.

What would y'all do?

Holiday Napkins & Coasters

I've been sewing again!

I was up past midnight last night making coaster & napkin sets for my friends for Christmas. I think they turned out nicely for the most part, but they were much more time consuming and aggravating than I anticipated.

My friends, however, are totally worth it!

Two Christmas Trees and a Birthday

The week of Thanksgiving, after much aggravation w/it falling over(twice) and having to buy a new tree stand, I got the first of my two Christmas trees up. Last year I waited till the week before Christmas to put just one up. I'm feeling ahead of the game Christmas-Spirit-wise. Gift wise, I'm SO behind...note the complete absence of gifts beneath the tree.

On to tree number two. I have wanted an aluminum 50's tree for as long as I can remember.

Knowing my love of all things vintage and kitschy, a lady at work offered me a 7 footer that had been sitting in her attic for years. Of course I jumped at the offer! I'm only slightly embarrassed to tell you it's been in the back end of my Jeep since Spring.

However, it's currently standing happily in a corner of my bedroom! Had I realized how big it was going to be, I'd have put it in the living room and the white one in the bedroom. Still, I must admit it looks fabulous right where it is! Don't you agree?

And now I am on a quest to find the perfect tree skirt...or fabric to make the perfect tree skirt. That big base that needs covering holds what used to be the inner workings of a rotating tree stand...it no longer rotates, but I can live with that!

The photos really don't do it justice.
I think I'm in love.And on hand to help me put up this delightful piece of Christmas past? The whole family. They'd come down for a Birthday lunch for Mom.A perfect way to end a terrific afternoon!

Happy Birthday Mom!

BlogWorthy

I know it's been a long time. If anyone is still out there...Hi! These next two weeks will be crazy so I doubt I'll post much more than this, but I felt this was an event most assuredly blogworthy. At least in my little hometown.

So what, you ask, could cause me to pause long enough to snap a couple photos(though not so great) and take the time to log in and actually type some text out?

This.

Yes, a Dollar General Store has me all excited....so much so I was apparently shaking w/excitement just taking the photo.

You must understand that if we run out of pop, milk or Heaven forbid, toilet paper, it's a ten minute drive into town unless I want to go to the gas station/convenience store...where toilet paper costs like $27.39! So this is big, people!

We actually do have a post office, a bank, an antique shop and two other little "shops", so don't think we're completely in the boonies here.

Although this IS the view across the street from the Dollar Store.


OK, back to the craziness that is. I will be seeing y'all again. Hopefully a little sooner next time!